Amiri Baraka's Expressive Language brings up some interesting points. As he talks about the relationship between speech, literature, and culture, I followed his though processes.
First, he says that language comes from culture. What I like about his that it means two things (much like what he says later about several meanings for one word): that language comes from the culture, and how and why you say things is because of your culture, and also that the language you use in literature, poems, and speech are about your culture- about your life. There are a multitude of cultures, and there are a multitude of meanings. It depends on your social status, the money you have, where you are, what climate, environment, home, people... everything in your life- from the objects to the situation to the environment to the live things- all of that is your culture, and all of this dictates how you perceive things and how you understand things. Like Baraka says, the seventy cents he has for a beer is not the same things as his neighbor who looks hopefully at the garbage. Nor is it the same to David Rockefeller. So the words that we use and choose are not just words, or definitions- but they are speak of our life, culture, and depth. Baraka writes, "It is the users [of words] that establish the world's realities. Realities being those fantasies that control your immediate span of life". Using words reveals how you see the world- and it can be a fantasy reality- and why and how you act the way you do. This is fascinating. Everyone's culture is different, and so there are similar meanings for different words and different meanings for the similar words. Words portray culture and life through their meanings, rhythms, and syntax- it is not only what the words mean that reveal your culture, but the way you say things- and this is very true. Sophisticated people tend to speak in longer, more complex sentences with complicated words, unlike others who use short sentences and get straight to the point, using simple words to describe their thoughts. There are a myriad of ways to say things, but it is culture that gives words meaning. A dictionary of words are merely definitions- without culture, there is no interpretation, individuality, or meaning. It is the ideas and wishes behind those words based on your culture that give speech a certain style.
Recently in a SAT prep class, we were talking about idioms. How Americans say "many a day" or "the coin dropped" or "I broke into my shoes" - and because we had diverse students, some were shocked and confused at these words- for if we only look at the definition of words, the meaning is not clear- the coin dropped just means that a coin dropped- not any sort of epiphany or anything. And breaking into one's shoes is not the same thing as breaking into a house. So culture does play a large part in how we say things and what we mean. This is why it is hard to learn another language. As I learn Spanish, I understand quite a bit, yet I lack the idioms and Spanish sayings that go along with culture. Culture has a large role in how we think and see, and this is clear through how we say things.
First, he says that language comes from culture. What I like about his that it means two things (much like what he says later about several meanings for one word): that language comes from the culture, and how and why you say things is because of your culture, and also that the language you use in literature, poems, and speech are about your culture- about your life. There are a multitude of cultures, and there are a multitude of meanings. It depends on your social status, the money you have, where you are, what climate, environment, home, people... everything in your life- from the objects to the situation to the environment to the live things- all of that is your culture, and all of this dictates how you perceive things and how you understand things. Like Baraka says, the seventy cents he has for a beer is not the same things as his neighbor who looks hopefully at the garbage. Nor is it the same to David Rockefeller. So the words that we use and choose are not just words, or definitions- but they are speak of our life, culture, and depth. Baraka writes, "It is the users [of words] that establish the world's realities. Realities being those fantasies that control your immediate span of life". Using words reveals how you see the world- and it can be a fantasy reality- and why and how you act the way you do. This is fascinating. Everyone's culture is different, and so there are similar meanings for different words and different meanings for the similar words. Words portray culture and life through their meanings, rhythms, and syntax- it is not only what the words mean that reveal your culture, but the way you say things- and this is very true. Sophisticated people tend to speak in longer, more complex sentences with complicated words, unlike others who use short sentences and get straight to the point, using simple words to describe their thoughts. There are a myriad of ways to say things, but it is culture that gives words meaning. A dictionary of words are merely definitions- without culture, there is no interpretation, individuality, or meaning. It is the ideas and wishes behind those words based on your culture that give speech a certain style.
Recently in a SAT prep class, we were talking about idioms. How Americans say "many a day" or "the coin dropped" or "I broke into my shoes" - and because we had diverse students, some were shocked and confused at these words- for if we only look at the definition of words, the meaning is not clear- the coin dropped just means that a coin dropped- not any sort of epiphany or anything. And breaking into one's shoes is not the same thing as breaking into a house. So culture does play a large part in how we say things and what we mean. This is why it is hard to learn another language. As I learn Spanish, I understand quite a bit, yet I lack the idioms and Spanish sayings that go along with culture. Culture has a large role in how we think and see, and this is clear through how we say things.
the real point of language structure missed here is collocation. language is used in chunks not in words... most sentences are composed of known phrases.
ReplyDeleteusing mostly phrases or collocations reduces by many orders the energy costs in the brain of processing language.
in a sense, most sentences are composed of set known idioms used in chunks. check the science on collocation. look at corpus based collocation dictionaries. most writing mistakes in ESL writing are collocation errors.